In previous Mishnayot, we discussed cases where a person had an improper Kavanah (intention) to eat the meat or burn the eimurim, the parts of the korban (sacrifice), past their time or outside their normal place of burning. Here, we’ll talk about other types of situations where he intends to do things that are not normally done to the meat, the eimurim, or the blood of the korban.
The Mishnah says: If somebody slaughters a korban intending to take the blood and leave it over, or to leave the eimurim until the next day, or to take them out, but he never intended to do any other avodah (service) with them. If he did intend to throw the blood on the wrong day, that would make it pigul (disqualified offering), and the same applies to the eimurim. If he intended to burn the eimurim the next day, that would also make it pigul here. What we’re saying is that he just intended to leave it over until the next day, not to do any avodah with the blood or the eimurim. The same applies to taking it outside. He had no intention to do an avodah with the blood or the eimurim outside. He just wanted to have Kavanah to take it out at some point. So we say: According to Rabbi Yehuda, slaughtering a korban with the intention of doing something improper to it gives it the same halakha (law) as if he actually did the improper thing. Therefore, if he had the Kavanah to leave the blood over until after sunset, or to take it out of the courtyard, that would invalidate the blood and the korban, and it would be as if he had done those improper things. But Chachamim (the Sages) machshirin; Chachamim say the korban is valid. In their opinion, the only improper intentions would be to throw or burn the blood at an improper time, or to take it out of a place in order to do something with it—to take it out of the courtyard of the Beit HaMikdash to do avodah with it. But intentions about anything else would not invalidate the korban. So, according to them, the intentions here were just to leave it over or to bring it into the courtyard. But since they weren’t avodah-related intentions, they do not create a problematic situation. They do not invalidate the korban. We’ll now list other cases where the intention to do something does not invalidate the korban, even according to the strict opinion of Rabbi Yehuda.
The Mishnah continues: Shechato al menat litno. If a person slaughtered a korban intending to throw the blood on the wall of the ramp instead of on the wall of the Mizbeach (altar) itself, or he put it on the wall of the Mizbeach that’s opposite the base, or he intends to take the blood that’s supposed to be put below and put it on top, or for the blood that should have been put above to be put below, or he intends to take the blood that’s supposed to be put inside the Heichal (sanctuary) on the inner Mizbeach and put it on the outside of the outer Mizbeach, or to take the blood that should be put outside on the outer Mizbeach and put it inside the Heichal. We’ll eventually say at the end of the Mishnah that in all these cases, he does not invalidate the korban.
We’ll now mention people who are disqualified from eating the korban or doing the avodah. If he slaughtered the korban with the intention that people who are tamei (ritually impure) should eat the meat, or that people who are tamei should offer the eimurim on the Mizbeach, or that people with no Brit Milah (circumcision) should eat the meat, or that people with no Brit Milah should offer the eimurim onto the Mizbeach, we’ll say that these intentions do not invalidate the korban, as we’ll say at the end of the Mishnah.
Here we’ll mention two improper Kavanot regarding korban Pesach. He slaughters the korban Pesach with the intention to break the bones, which one is not allowed to break, or to eat its meat when it’s not fully cooked. Or he slaughters the korban with the intention to take the blood and mix it with invalid blood, so that the blood is then not allowed to be offered on the Mizbeach. In all of these cases, we say the korban is valid. This is so according to the Chachamim, and even according to the strict opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, because the halakha is that the only intention that would invalidate a korban is an improper intention about Zeman, about the time, or Makom (space), or having a Kavanah to do something with the korban outside of its place. Or, in the case of korban Pesach or Chatat (sin offering), to offer it not for its sake, but for the sake of a different korban. So we understand here that in all these cases, the improper Kavanah was a wrong Kavanah, but it wasn’t a Kavanah that would make the korban pasul (invalid), because it had nothing to do with time or with the space where the korban would be offered on the Mizbeach or eaten. All the places that we mentioned had to do with the blood, and we say that even if the blood was offered in the wrong place, the korban would still be okay, and the eimurim would be forbidden. So therefore, those are the only times that we have a problem, and whatever we mentioned in this Mishnah is not an issue.